Gnocchi with Marinara Sauce

This gnocchi with marinara sauce recipe uses DeLallo’s gnocchi kit to make delicious homemade gnocchi, and it’s topped with a quick from-scratch marinara sauce. 

Try my Tuscan Baked Gnocchi next for another cozy meal.

This post is sponsored by DeLallo – thank you for supporting the brands that keep Salt & Lavender cooking! I only work with brands whose products I love. All opinions are my own.

DeLallo has been family owned since 1950 (it started as an Italian market in a town just outside of Pittsburgh), and they continue to import, produce, and distribute delicious Italian and Mediterranean specialty foods. 

If you’ve never made gnocchi (or any kind of pasta) at home before, DeLallo’s gnocchi kit is a fun and less intimidating way to give it a try. You simply add water, form the dough, roll it out into thinner strands, and then cut it into gnocchi shapes. It doesn’t have to be perfect, and that’s all part of the fun in making homemade pasta. Texture-wise, it’s lighter/less dense than the shelf stable variety that you’ll typically find in grocery stores.

DeLallo’s San Marzano Style Tomatoes are sun-ripened Italian plum tomatoes harvested in the Naples region of Italy, and they’re naturally nice and sweet – perfect for marinara sauce.

To make the marinara sauce, you start by sautéing some onion and garlic and then add some white wine, the crushed tomatoes, oregano, red pepper flakes, and basil. Let it simmer on the stove while you’re preparing the gnocchi, and that’s it! There’s nothing quite like pillowy gnocchi drenched in a tasty red sauce.

How to make gnocchi

DeLallo’s gnocchi kit comes with instructions, but here’s a visual summarizing the steps:

Love easy pasta recipes? I’ve worked with DeLallo in the past to make this delicious Sausage Pesto Pasta, Chicken Arrabiata Pasta, and my Creamy Pasta Primavera.

Recipe notes & tips:

• I used sauvignon blanc in the marinara sauce. You could also use pinot grigio or another dry white wine. Water works too if you don’t have any on hand or don’t want to cook with wine, but it does add a lot of flavor to the sauce.
• Always keeping the surface you’re working on as well as the gnocchi dough lightly floured helps the process go smoother (less sticking).
• I recommend cooking the gnocchi soon after making them for best results (they will start to stick to each other otherwise). You can freeze the uncooked gnocchi after making them. DeLallo’s website suggests freezing gnocchi on a baking sheet for 2 hours and then transferring them to a container for storage for up to 2 months. Cook from frozen (do not thaw first).
• I strongly recommend using a LARGE pot for boiling the gnocchi. They release a lot of starch, and you’ll get better results with a larger pot.

Have you ever made homemade gnocchi? Will you give DeLallo’s gnocchi kit a try? Let me know in the comments below!